Take Two
by Nf2752
Summary: "Normal" just isn't something that Sora and the gang can't seem to handle or at least for the past five years, so maybe college will be different. Maybe they'll have their chance to be normal kids with normal lives, or maybe not! Especially when some lose ends from the last adventure start messing things up. Sort of Sequel to A New World.
1. Start of a New Adventure

**Disclaimer: I do not nor will I unfortunately ever, own Kingdom Hearts or any related elements or characters. **

Author's Note: So here we go, this chapter jumps right into everything. This takes place right after the end of another of my stories, A New World, which can be seen on my deviantART, but you don't really need to know much about that story to hopefully enjoy this one. Anyway, this is a lot of exposition so sorry about that, but I promise it will get better. Please review!

Update!: Okay, so see up there where I promised it would get better? Well it does and these first six chapters are important for setting up character and stuff, but if you're a reader that likes to jump into the action, go ahead and jump to chapter seven because that's where everything really picks up pace. Still, I would recommend (and love it if you would) that you read these first, but it's up to you. Please review! Thanks!

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Chapter 1: Start of a New Adventure

Ugh...what's going on…why is every…thing shaking?

"Sora! Get your lazy butt out of bed!" A mumble is all that escapes my mouth. Who's talking? "Sora!"

"Ack!" The world tumbles, my head bangs against the floor. I blink a couple of times before I can actually see anything. "Geez…Tobi…isn't there an easier way to wake someone up?" I roll over so I can push myself off the floor. Tobi must have pulled the blankets out from around me because I was in my bed a couple of seconds ago.

"Roxas tried that. He said your alarm went off half an hour ago. He even threw his pillow at you." So, that's what I felt in the middle of the night. "Come on, we gotta go soon. Orientation starts in a couple of hours, and we all know you take forever to do your hair."

"Hey!" I can hear Tobi snicker from down the hall. I guess he's right though…I mean somehow Van's managed to get it done faster than I have. Alright…I guess I have to get going. I hate how Tobi's such a morning person, I mean he doesn't even have to use an alarm clock. Whatever, it doesn't really matter. All that matters to me is that the water in the shower is hot.

After the majority of my early morning prep, I walk out into the kitchen. Roxas and Tobi are moving about like it's noon and not 8:30. I can't tell if Van is asleep or not. His head kind of hangs down over his cup of tea, but he's not really moving. Roxas is cooking something, but I'm not sure what Tobi's doing with his cup of tea over at the counter.

"Okay, see? I'm up. And I still have an hour and a half." I grab the cup of tea Tobi made for me or at least the one he put in my mug.

"Good. You know 10:00 is when orientation starts. Registration is at 9:30."

"Man, Roxas! Why didn't you tell me that?!"

"I did, when I threw the pillow at you." He brings me a plate of French toast and sausage. I'm not sure how my Nobody can cook and I can't, but whatever, I'll take it!

"Huh...oops!" I grin before taking a bite of my French toast. I snicker as Roxas sighs at me.

"What time are we meeting Ven?" Van finally moves.

"Well, the train to Twilight Falls leaves at 9:15, and he lives about five minutes from the station, so probably 9ish." Roxas turns away from the clock on the wall.

"So we've got about twenty minutes then." Great...that means I've got about that much time to get all my stuff together. We don't have much today. They're going to talk at us for a while then we get to try a bunch of twenty minute classes that are supposed to give us an idea about what we want to take, but really it's getting us to buy all our books from their store. Anyway, at the end of the day, we get to chose four classes and put them together into our schedules...after all that the University wants an interview with all of us for their magazine. It shouldn't be too bad. We all talked about it earlier and we are going to try and make it so we all get a class together. Still, it's going to be a long day.

I manage one last bite of sausage before we all have to head out into the next part of our lives. I run through one last mental check, backpack, paperwork for the University, cell phone...I think that's everything. Van and I walk behind Roxas and Tobi.

"Oh yeah, how'd your date with Naminé go last night?" I step closer. Roxas didn't talk about it much last night. I got an "it was good" before he fell asleep.

"It was pretty nice. We stayed in town and went to that little cafe that just opened down in the Plaza. It was good, packed too." Roxas realigns his messenger bag.

"So did it make for a good last day of Summer?" I step up beside Roxas that way I can actually be in this conversation.

"Yeah it was an awesome night!" Roxas' face is filled with his smile.

"They're going to meet us at the campus, right?" Ah, crap, I forgot to text Kairi this morning…I'll just say I was running late or something. Double crap…she's already texted me…

"Yep…she and Kairi we're going to go early to check out some of the shops there."

"Kairi likes to shop a lot doesn't she?" Tobi looks over to me.

"But, that's why it's great she's the mayor's daughter, she doesn't expect me to spend all kinds of money on her." That makes everyone laugh… "Not that I wouldn't spend money on her it's just…"

"Sora, don't worry, we're just giving you a hard time." Roxas' is still laughing, but he stops by the time we make it to Terra, Aqua and Ven's house. Roxas knocks on the door and we all get one of those weird mirror moments as he and Ven stand opposite each other.

"Hey guys! Ready to go?" Ven shuts the door as we start up the hill toward the station.

"As I'll ever be I guess."

"Oh come on Tobi! This is going to fun; I mean we're going to be able to act like normal kids for once!" I stuff my phone back in my pocket after responding to Kairi.

"Sorry, but _I_ got to live a normal childhood well minus the past year or so. And last I checked, college is a big deal."

"Oh Tobi, Sora's right this will be fun! I mean we get to hang out with each other every day!" Ven and I smile.

"Minus going to class." Van just had to add the dampener.

"Just lighten up. Look the train leaves in ten minutes, so smile and laugh about it!" Roxas makes a very wide smile that's almost creepy. All five of us do just that as we walk into the Twilight Town Station. Most of the kids that are going to TTU moved into the dorms the other day and we're leaving after most of the people who go to work already left, so it's pretty empty in here. They have all these monitors with the schedule, so that'll be helpful.

"Okay guys, so the Link to Twilight Falls leaves in seven minutes from the platform down that way…" I point off down a hall. The screen has a nice little arrow pointing us in the right direction. The Link is below most of the rest of the station since it has to run underground. It's weird hearing the trains above us as we go down.

"Wow, listen to the echo down here." Ven messes with his voice to play with the echo. The rest of us join right behind him before we all break into laughter that doesn't end until the Link train rushes in. Here we go…I guess it's starting to all set in this time.

"So how long do we have to be on this thing?" Van messes with his hood.

"According to the map we have to switch at Falls Central on to a…blue train…which will take us to University Main after…_one, two, three,_ four stations."

"So about fifteen minutes…ish."

"Why does this have to be so complicated, we shoulda just walked."

"You should've left about an hour ago, then Sora." Tobi starts laughing as he looks up from Ven's map.

"Or at least when I threw the pillow at you!" Roxas gets in on the laughing at my expense. I stick my tongue out at them. He's never going to let me out of that one.

"That was the only time you've ever had to do that!"

"So? I still had to…what happened to being excited for today?" He's still laughing.

"Doesn't mean I can't be tired." I start to laugh…and there goes any chance I had of winning this argument.

I can feel the nerves starting to show up as we get closer. Why is it that I can stare down Maleficent, but college makes me nervous? How does that make any sense? Anyway, with Roxas and Ven leading, we make the switch and get to the campus with plenty of time. We're actually just a bit outside Twilight Falls, so most of the really tall buildings are a ways away, which is kinda nice. I mean coming from an island where our tallest building is probably four floors, I'm okay without them. Here we go...we've got a set of stairs up...this station has a bunch more people in it. Most of them seem our age, so they must be students. A set of doors with sunlight shining in are in front of us. Beyond those doors lies our futures, wow that way too philosophical for me.

"You guys ready?"


	2. Academia Awaits

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything even remotely related to Kingdom Hearts or its characters.**

Author's Note: Here we go, Chapter 2! It picks up literally right after chapter 1. Now, if you like to listen to music while you read, I have a suggestion for this piece. Go to Youtube and search for FF XIII-2 City of Academia. It's a great piece and I think it works to create a great atmosphere! I hope you enjoy and please review!

Chapter 2: Academia Awaits

The doors open for the five of us and here we are. We step out into the light and the morning breeze rushes passed. In front of us is the main courtyard of the Campus. The grass feels nice under my feet, and the sounds of murmured conversations are all over the place.

"Look, there's Naminé´ and Kairi!" I turn to where Tobi points. They're waving to us. I run over to her and sweep right into a hug, I'm glad she's not mad for this morning. Naminé´ and Roxas share a kiss before we all cluster back together.

"So how are you guys?" Kairi looks to Ven, Van, Tobi and Roxas.

"Pretty good, you excited?" Ven smiles.

"Yep! This is going to be amazing!" Giggling, Kairi spins back to me.

"Does anyone know where we're supposed to go?" I put my hands behind my head.

"All of the signs point that way." Naminé´ points to the huge building at the opposite end of the Courtyard, "And many of the other students are headed that way."

"Well let's go then!" Roxas and Naminé´ kiss one more time before we all head toward that building that Naminé´ pointed out. Along our way, I look around at the rest of the Campus. Near the station must be the dorms since there're a bunch of kids coming out of them, and there are a bunch of buildings behind the one we're headed to, but I can't tell what they are. I'll admit it, I didn't really read the map all that closely before I got here. Oh well, I'll manage. On the sides of the path are these flags that are hanging from the lights, they all have TTU printed on them, I guess that's fitting.

"Here we are..." Van sounds upset.

"This is it, huh..." Tobi's eyes don't leave the building in front of us.

"Yep..." Ven lets his voice trail.

"Our toughest adventure yet!" With my comment the mood breaks, and everyone starts to laugh. The building, whose sign says its name is Sunset Hall, opens up as we push through the doors, and wow...just wow. This whole thing is one huge room that must be at least thirty feet tall, and other than the staircase just ahead of us, there's almost nothing in here, well except for the bunch of kids. Still, it looks like we're in some palace or something. The floor is made of this tile that Tobi showed us in some of the Seven Wonders we visited. Roxas and Naminé´ lead the way. I think they're following all the signs, or at least I hope so, that would be a really bad way to start all of this. They take us through a couple more sets of doors and rooms before they stop. It's a huge auditorium...there must be a thousand kids in here.

"Okay everyone, this is it. I think we have to register over there." Naminé´ points over to one of the tables they have set up around the room. We all nod before we head to that table. Behind it is this girl with bright pink hair and such a wide smile. She seems so eager.

"Hi guys! You're here for registration, right?" Her eyes are a shining blue.

"Yeah...isn't...everyone?" Tobi scrunches his eyebrows.

"Most people, but you'd be surprised who ends up in here." Her laugh is very light and happy. She makes us all smile. "Okay...so your names are..." She pulls a list closer to her.

"I'm Sora, and this is Kai..."

"I can do it Sora; I'm not a little kid. I'm Kairi."

"Oh, you're that group of Keyblade users that everyone's been talking about, aren't you?" Her smile widens, "So that means you must be Naminé´, Roxas, Ventus, Vanitas, and Tobi, right?" She points to everyone, but is a little off.

"Close. I'm Tobi, that's Vanitas, Roxas and Ventus." He gets it right, which I hope he would; I mean he's been living with us for a while now.

"Oh, sorry about that! So, are you all related because you three and you two look a lot alike." She points to the five of us. We look at each other and start laughing.

"Sorta, but it's a long story," Roxas laughs.

"You'll have to tell me some time. Anyway, are you guys living on campus or off?" She looks down her list.

"Off."

"Oh cool, then you and I will be getting to know it each other pretty well. I'm Serah, by the way, I'm your Campus Assistant. I'm kind of like a RA, but for off campus students like you guys."

"Cool!" We chime.

"So what are your guys' majors?"

"I'm a music major!" I start.

"Early Childhood Education," Kairi smiles.

"Creative writing," Roxas chimes.

"Drawing," doesn't surprise me about Naminé.

"Counseling," Ven adds.

"History," Serah's seems to smile wider at Tobi's major.

"Psychology," Van actually smiles.

"Wow, quite a variety there," she laughs.

"What's your major?" Kairi joins in on the laughs.

"I'm a secondary ed history major." That's why she smiled like that, "Okay, so you each need one of these..." She leans over and pulls out these seven backpack looking things that have the school's logo on them. She hands one to each of us. "They each have a planner for your homework; you're going to have a lot of that. There's a book with the schedule of events today, it has a list of where all the classes are today too. Um...let's see...it also has a 10% off discount for the school's store, that'll be good for all of your books. Now, do you all have the paperwork the school sent you earlier this summer?" We nod and pull out the papers from our packs. "Great, but you'll need those for the next station." She gestures down the row of tables. "Come see me anytime you have questions! I live in the apartments on Campus. Have a great day guys!" We return her smile before we continue down the row.

The rest of the people are nice, but not as nice as Serah. It's a little annoying though; they sent us each ten forms and we have to go to a different table for each one. Still, everyone, myself included, remembered to fill out all the paperwork before we got here, so it's fast.

"All right, now that that's done, we just have to wait here for everything to start." Ven has his face buried in the schedule.

"So what will be starting?" Van crosses his arms.

"A welcome by the President of Twilight Town University...then after that we start our class previews." I read from over Ven's shoulder.

"Welcome incoming students..." Here we go.


	3. Class Tasting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any related characters!**

Author's Note: Welp…there's a lot of expo in this chapter, but I guess it's all necessary…anyway, it will pick up speed, I promise! I hope you all like it and if you do, please review! Thanks!

Chapter 3: Class Tasting

The President's speech ends up being more than just a welcome. She keeps going on and on and...oh they're clapping. I guess she's done, finally! We wrap back around into our little huddle.

"Okay, we've got ten minutes to chose and get to our first class. What are we going to do?" Roxas pulls the schedule from his bag.

"Did you find any classes you wanted to see?" I look at the little book Serah gave me.

"I saw one that was called 'Myths and Legends: The Keyblade.' Sounded kinda cool." I see the class Tobi's talking about. It looks okay, but...eh.

"Oh yeah that one sounded cool." Makes sense that Roxas would like that. He, Tobi and Ven have kinda always been history nerds.

"What about this one...'Kids and Teachers: How to Deal.'" Kairi starts giggling, "Sounds fun."

"Sorta." Naminé's mouth widens into a smile.

"intro to Psych...Required for all psychology courses...well that sucks."

"Are you to that one Van?" I chuckle.

"No! I have to take it anyway, so I'm not going to waste my time now."

"Speaking of, we're almost outta time." Ven reminds us.

"I guess I'll go to that Keyblade class with you guys." Van lets out a sorta half sigh.

"Well, if he's going too, I guess you can count me in." I shrug. It doesn't sound too bad anyway.

"Alright, so we'll meet you guys after the class, right?" Smiling, Kairi turns to me.

"Yep. Back here?" I give her a quick kiss.

"Sure." Naminé and Roxas share a kiss too.

"Okay, see you then." The girls head out the way we came in.

"So where is this class?" I put my hands behind my head; to be honest I didn't pay all that much attention to the schedule when I looked.

"I think it's just on the second floor." Ven cocks his head while looking at the map, "Room 243."

"Right. Let's go!" Tobi smiles before looking at the stairs. Nodding we all follow to our new classroom.

That class wasn't bad, it's probably on my maybe list, but I did find one that makes it on to my definitely list. It's called "Mood Music: Setting for an Adventure." I bet that would have made these adventures a lot more fun. Especially during all that time in the Gummi Ship with Donald and his...

"So what's next?" Ven flips through the book.

"What about this one, 'Mood Music?' You guys have to get an arts credit, right? And it works for my major too!"

"Sure, we've got seven more of these things today, so it sounds good to me." Roxas nods, which the others mimic in one form or another.

"We should probably see what the girls want to do first though." Tobi stuffs everything back into his pack. With that we walk back down stairs where Kairi and Naminé are waiting for us.

"So, how was it?" Kairi smiles as we come down the stairs.

"Not bad." I give her a hug.

"We liked it." Tobi says from behind me.

"How was yours?" Roxas splits from Naminé.

"It was nice. I think I'm going to take it." Naminé tilts her head as she smiles.

"Me too! Problem is, it's an 8 am class, which isn't great.

"Still if you like it. Plus it must work for your major." Ven takes out his schedule.

"And mine too...I have a lot of electives." Naminé smiles again.

"What are you guys going to next?"

"Mood Music or something." Van enters the conversation.

"That doesn't sound bad...oh and it counts for our arts credit." Kairi flips through her book. "I'll go with you guys."

"Why not?" Naminé adds.

"Awesome! Let's go!" I almost jump from my excitement. We're going to try a class out together! The only problem is...we might end up being a little late. The class is in the ...Lumi Arts Hall on the other side of the Courtyard.

So that's another one down, and we weren't even late! It was pretty awesome, and I think the others liked it too, so this might be our class!

"What's next?" Van seems less than interested.

"We have this one and then lunch, right?" I fold my arms.

"That's what it says. Let's see, physics...no...math...ha, no...geology...eh...we've already done history...chemistry...that doesn't sound too bad." Roxas flips through the pages.

"Here's one...'The Science of Magic.'" Tobi and I share a book.

"You guys can go to that if you want, but I think I might go to another ed class..."Teaching High Schoolers.'" Kairi points to the book.

"I should probably go see that one." Kairi smiles and turns to head to the building behind us again.

"Was there one you wanted to go see Nami?" Roxas walks over to his girlfriend.

"I don't know Roxas...there's a traditional lit class that looks interesting." I watch Roxas' eyes brighten as she says that. Judging by her smile, she did that on purpose.

"Okay, so we'll go to the Traditional lit class, you two are going to that chem class, right?" Tobi and I nod. "Where are you going to go Van?" He just shrugs.

"Well, to avoid being a third wheel, I guess I'll go to that chem class with these two."

"We'd better get going then." I put my pack back on my shoulders. Tobi and Van follow me out the side door toward the Couret Science Hall while Roxas and Naminé go out the other side to the Humanites Center.

"Okay so that was boring." Tobi leads Van and I out of that really boring class.

"Yup, not taking that one. Talk about monotone." Van mimics the last teacher. That guy was bad, and here I thought chemistry would be cool.

"Alright, we've got an hour for lunch...did you want to try the cafeteria?" Tobi points to the dining hall behind us.

"Sure let me text the others..." I pull out my phone to text Kairi and Roxas. They only take half a minute to text back, "Alright, they'll meet us there."

"Cool...let's go!" Tobi readjusts his bag. Van cracks his fingers as he follows with us. . The dining hall is part of that first building we were in, at least according to the map. After we get back, we find the cafeteria on the secon-ird floor away from all the classrooms. Wow...it's a huge place...it can probably hold two thousand people, but it's empty...right now.

"Wow...look at this...there must be seven different food stations." Tobi shows us the menu they have near the register.

"You need to get your ID pictures first, so if you tell us your names, we'll get your pictures and have them printed for you by tomorrow." A lady at the register motions to a bunch of cameras ahead of us. I just hope I can take a better picture than that one time with Donald and Goof...never mind.

Okay, that's done, so now we get to eat! I wave to Roxas and Naminé who are right behind us. Kairi and Ven must be nearby in that line that's going out the door. Van, Tobi and I find a table for all of us, but we agree...eventually to wait for the others before we start eating. I stare at my plate for a while wishing we hadn't made that choice. Oh, well here the come.

"Awesome you finally made it!" Kairi and Ven join us at the table.

"How was your class?" Tobi asks as I start to eat. He takes up a bite of food and at the sametime as mine, his face falls. The rice leaves our mouths. "Ew...and here I thought only Sora could crew up rice." He uses a napkin to clean out his mouth.

"That was one time!" I manage after I spit out the rest of my rice.

"Hey at least he can make noodles." Kairi pushes away her plate.

"Thanks...I think..." I turn into her kiss, which makes me sure it was a compliment. Naminé puts a napkin up to her mouth. I think she might be spitting something out.

"Roxas, I love your cooking even more now."

"Me too." Ven frowns.

"Pathetic." Van shoves his plate away.

"We've got 45 minutes before we have to go back." Tobi looks up at the clock.

"The plaza?" Kairi stands.

"Works for me!" We all follow her out of the dining hall.

"So what are you guys going to this afternoon?" Kairi stabs at her salad with a fork.

"Hey Tobi, there's a writing class in the second session." Roxas cuts his sandwich in half.

"Which one?" Toobi slurps his noodles.

"That non-fic for fiction writers one." Roxas tries with plenty of sandwich in his mouth, which makes us all laugh.

"Okay!" Tobi laughs, "But what about the next session?"

"I kinda just want to pick one out of the book and go with it!" Kairi shifts her salad around.

"That sounds like fun." Naminé giggles.

"Sure, why not?"Tobi smiles.

"Works for me." I take a bite of good rice. Ven, Roxas and Van look at each other and shrug.

"Sure." And that's how the rest of the afternoon went. We went in and out of classes another four times before we were finished.

"Soooo glad to be done with that." Tobi plops down on the grass where we agreed to meet. I land beside my brother, and Ven crosses his legs underneath himself. Kairi and Roxas join us in the next few minutes. Van and Naminé aren't far behind.

"We're not done yet though. We have to make our schedules plus we that interview with the school too." I lay down on the grass.

"Yeah and we still have to buy all books too..." Ven groans.

"Wonderful." I imagine that Van rolled his eyes, but I couldn't see. So we sat there for a while setting up our schedules. I've got two with Tobi and Roxas, three with Ven and Naminé, but only the one with Kairi and Van. We go to the store and buy all the books we need. Mine were 7318 Munny and that was after the discount! Most of them were used too! And one of them wasn't even a book, just a bunch of pages that I have to put into a binder!

"Interview time?" I turn to our time keeper, Roxas.

"Yep...fifteen minutes. Where was it again?"

"I think it was in the Library..."

"Do you still have the message?" I shake my head at Naminé's question.

"Let's just go to the Library. It's not like they can do the interview without us." Van stands up and points to the Library. We all nod and head off that way.


	4. Sorrowful Memories

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters that Square Enix does.**

Author's Note: Now things start to get interesting! This chapter delves into the post KH 3D lives of these characters. Plus it gives you a deep insight into Tobi's past, so I hope you like it! If you do, please review! Thanks!

Chapter IV: Sorrowful Memories

Van pushes open the doors to the library. As we walk in my eyes get pulled up. This place is huge...this...lobby has an open spot that goes up four stories. There are balconies on each one, not to mention these huge rows of books, like in Hollow Bastion, but much bigger.

"Look at this place...there are so many books." Tobi must be in his heaven, he's always reading.

"So where in here is our interview going to be? This place is huge..." Ven looks up through the opening.

"Hi everyone!" I search for the voice. Serah's pink hair helps her to stand out. "How were your first tastes of classes?" She smiles.

"Some were good...others sucked."Tobi sticks out his tongue and twists his face, which makes us all laugh.

"That sounds about right." Serah giggles. "Are you here for your interview?" Wow, does she know everything?

"Um...yeah...how did you know about that?" I tilt my head.

"We were all told about it. Hasn't anyone else asked you about it? Or any of your adventures?" Serah offers a confused smile.

"We really haven't talked to anyone. We've mostly stayed by ourselves." Kairi gestures as she talks.

"Well, everyone around here has been talking about the seven of you and everything you've been through. We all want to hear about your adventures especially that last one you just came back from." Serah's smile widens.

"How does everyone know about these things? I don't remember ever really talking about it." Kairi's right, I don't think I ever talked about it with people other than those on the Islands...I look over at the others, but they all shake their heads.

"There were a lot of reports about it and what happened to all the Heartless. They never really said much about it; just that it happened. Everyone wants to know the whole story from you guys."

"Huh, so do you know where we're supposed to do this interview?" Ven puts his hand behind his head.

"Anywhere you want." She smiles. What is she talking about? I'm pretty sure that note said the library, "I'm your interviewer and the editor of the school's magazine, so wherever you want to do this is fine with me." Her smile widens. As I look over I see the others are as confused as me.

"It doesn't matter. Where's the best place?" Roxas shrugs.

"Well let's go to the Courtyard then,...the light's better, plus I like the fresh air." Her hand sways while she's talking.

"Okay," I smlie and nod, while Serah leads us away from the library. By now, the sun's dropped below most of the taller buildings, so we have a nice bit of shade. With us on the benches on the edge of the grass, she starts off.

"You guys ready?"

"Yep," Roxas and I chime before the others can say anything.

"So um...I guess we should start from the beginning...how do you all know each other?"

"Well, Tobi and I are twins, but er got separated when we were three. Ven and Van are two parts of the same heart. Roxas is my Nobody, and Naminé is Kairi's Nobody, and Kairi and I have been best friends since we were four." *Gasp* I catch my breath after my five second crash course on our lives; Serah's still scribbling on her notepad.

"Okay...so you two are twins. You two are their Nobodies...and you...two...share...a heart?" She still smiles even though I'm sure she's confused. "How does that work if you don't mind me asking?"

"When I was fifteen, my Keyblade master, a really nasty dude named Xehanort, split my heart into its light half and dark half. He became my dark half." Ven points over at Van.

"So this happened pretty recently then." She's going to love this.

"Not really, unless you call thirteen years recent." Ven chuckles.

"Wait...you're twenty-eight?" She looks really confused now. I feel really bad for laughing.

"No, I'm eighteen like these guys...Xehanort tried to use our hearts to create this thing called the X-blade, but it caused both our hearts to 'fall asleep' for ten years, until he came and saved us."

"Ack...Ven stop!" I try to pull out of his noogie..

"Even after all that you two still get along?" As I rearrange my hair, I see her trying to hold in a laugh.

"Of Course!"

"Yeah, this guy kinda starts to grow on you after awhile." Van tries to hold back his smile, but I can still see it.

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Ven's smile expands, and we all laugh along.

"Okay then...I have a couple more questions with all of that, but I'll save those for another time. So, how are you two their Nobodies if you're still here? Sorry, I don't mean to sound rude, but I thought that a Nobody was created only once a person lost their heart..."

"Usually, but Roxas and I are special...Kairi is one of the Princesses of Heart, so when her Heart was stolen, I was created from Sora's body and Kairi's heart. Roxas is made of Sora's heart and body, but because of Ven's heart being in Sora, he was able to coexist after Kairi brought Sora back from being a Heartless." Naminé slides in closer to Roxas.

"Wow...I knew you lived some...interesting lives, but wow..." She chuckles as she writes.

"It get's stranger if you want." I guess Tobi's right...our story only makes things more interesting as Serah put it.

a

"Sure!" Serah lets out that laugh I've been watching her hold in. Tobi and I share a glance before I shrug.

"I've already told a story, so I think it's your turn." We smile.

"Yeah, Tobi let's hear from you." Serah's eyes seem to be more attentive.

"Okay...well like we said earlier Sora and I are twins, I'm the older one."

"By only five minutes!"

"Anyway..." He gives me a glare that turns into a smile, "I guess acocording to our Mom, we spent everyday together. Sora would always be the one who came up with the adventures and I'd go along with it. She said that neither our Dad nor her knew what happened to me after we turned three. She said I just disappeared one day..."

"So what happened?"

"I was adopted by this family on Earth..." Uh oh...this is starting to get into that sensitive territory, but I think he's going to keep going. He scoffs a little before starting again, "My parents were great. I had no clue I was adopted. My older brothers never told me anything about it..." I'm glad he's smiling about them now.

"And they were all okay about you coming out here?" Agh...Serah...why? I was trying to stop you. Tobi's been trying to bury all that stuff.

"Uh...Serah...that's a bit of a ..."

"It's okay Kairi. If I'm ever going to get over this, I need to talk about it." He takes a couple of deep breaths. I'm sure this is tough for him.

"My...adoptive...family didn't say anything about my coming out here...because," He sighs, "Maleficent killed them."


	5. The Interview

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its locations or characters.**

A/N: I finally finished this chapter! It took me forever because I had severe writer's block and this part really isn't much in way of plot development. This chapter is really to show Serah more because she will become a very important character as time goes on. I promise that it gets more exciting later on, please just stay the course and you'll see! Please review if you get a chance! Thanks!

* * *

Chapter V: The Interview

"Oh…I'm so sorry…I…I had no idea." Serah grimaces, "I know this won't help any, but I know what you're going through. My parents died when I was young. If my sister hadn't been there, I don't think I'd be able to make it through everything that happened."

"These guys definitely made it a little bit easier. After everything happened, Merlin and Yen Sid showed up. They told me that even though I thought I had lost the people I really cared about, I still had a family and…my twin brother." Tobi points over to me and smiles.

"That was really awesome! I was super excited when they told us that! I…I mean I feel really bad about what happened to Tobi and all, but I got this awesome brother out of it!"

"And I got a Sora out it! And I wouldn't want it any other way. Plus these guys came with the deal, so I couldn't complain!" One of the widest smiles I've ever seen from him comes out. Roxas gives him a quick hug.

"Yeah, he's become like a brother to all of us." He lets Tobi go.

"I'm glad everything worked out for you," she smiles as she finishes writing, "so not that I don't love this, but can I ask you about your most recent adventure?" Yes please! I've been hoping she'd ask. My parents were more interested in us being safe. Kairi and Naminé were used to this sort of thing by now, so this is our first chance to tell someone this story, and I can't wait! Tobi looks over to me first and shrugs.

"Go ahead." He smiles. He knows how much I like to tell these stories.

"Okay, so…wait how much do you want to know?" I guess I should ask before I go and give her the entire thing.

"Whatever is fine," she leans back against the bench.

"Okay well…" I tell her the whole thing from when Yen Sid and Merlin put me on Earth, to how I met my brother and then our adventure to the Seven Wonders of that World. Then we had everything with Maleficent. Still, Serah never stops writing or smiling, even when I start talking about Xehanort and his plan to remake the Realms of Light and Darkness with the Chaos of the Realm of Life.

"Wow, maybe I should write a book instead of an article," she laughs as she finishes writing, "That's pretty amazing!"

"We think so!" Kairi looks over at Naminé with a big smile on her face. I can't tell what she's...never mind, that kiss proved she was talking about me and Roxas and not just the adventure.

"That's good! So, I'm supposed to ask you questions about the University too. Oh but...uh...do you guys have anywhere you need to be? It's starting to get late. I don't want to keep you too long." I look over to everyone else. I take it their nods mean we're okay to keep going. With that Serah nods, "Okay, great! So why did you guys decide to go to TTU? I mean I'm sure you guys had tons of offers."

"Nami and I used to live in Twilight Town a few years ago, and we liked it here."

"They also had a big range of major, so we could all do what we wanted. A few of the others we liked didn't have all of them. Like RGT didn't have Pysch for Van or Writing for Roxas. Destiny Islands Academy didn't have any history choices for Ven and me." Tobi wasn't much a fan of DIA anyway.

"Coming here also gave us a chance to be away from home without being too far away. And it's so different from home," I add.

"How so?"

"The City. The Island where we lived was pretty small. Our tallest building was the City Hall, so...four stories, I think," Kairi giggles

"Wow," Serah chuckles, " my world used to have really tall buildings like this, but I can see how this could be a big culture shock." She covers her mouth through the laugh. " I know this is only your first day here, but do you guys like it so far?"

"Definitely!" Tobi answers with a smile.

"Yeah!" Roxas and Ven add at the same time.

"Food could be better though." Van sticks out his tongue. Ew...that memory makes me shutter, and I only had a bite.

"I'm not going to write this down, but I know how you feel. I've been here three years now, and it's never gotten better. I've gotten on a first name basis with most of the restaurant owners over in the Plaza." She starts laughing again.

"We went there for lunch today. We tried the food here, I got a total of one bite before I was done." Tobi puts a hand across his stomach.

"You'll get used to that." We all laugh. "What did you think of the classes?"

"They were pretty good. Some of them though were really boring," Ven sighs.

"Yeah this one professor had this monotone," Van mimics...ah...what's his name...

"Oh, Professor Vanhize. Yeah, he's ...different. He's one of the smartest men I know, but..."

"He's not that exciting," Ven finishes.

"That's the nice way to say it." We laugh as she talks, "Well...I guess that I'll say have a great year guys. Don't forget to come see me!" Serah closes the small book she'd been writing in. We stand up with her.

"Thanks for that Serah. You made us feel welcomed!" Kairi wraps her fingers around mine.

"I can't imagine that I'm the only one that talked to you guys today." She places everything in her pink and purple bag.

"Actually, not many people said anything to us. We kind of stayed together everywhere we went." Tobi looks a little upset.

"It was probably because everyone was trying to figure out classes and how everything worked. Once the returning students come back tomorrow, I bet everything will be different!" She smiles as we split apart to head home. Tomorrow will be an interesting day for sure.


	6. The Adventure Begins

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy XIII.**

A/N: So last time was pretty much just a crash course on everyone's history, so sorry that it was just a lot of filler. With this chapter we start to see the real action of this story come through! I don't want to give away much, so I hope you enjoy this and leave some reviews! Thanks!

* * *

Part VI: The Adventure Begins

"That wasn't what I was expecting," we walk away from the empty Courtyard. It's so strange how there's no one here anymore, I don't think any of the professors are still here either.

"I don't think that was what she was either." Roxas kind of chuckles.

"Well that's just the first day. We've got four more years ahead of us," Ven joins in on Roxas' laughter.

"Yeah, and real classes start tomorrow too..." Van scoffs.

"Wow, one day, and you already hate school," Tobi smiles.

"You weren't too excited about it earlier this morning, Tobi," he scowls at me.

"I was nervous, I didn't hate it. And aren't you my brother, you're supposed to back me up on these things!"

"I'm your younger brother, so...no!"

"TWIN...brother, we're supposed to get along and agree on everything!" Ugh...I'm not going to win this argument, am I?

"I still don't," a huge smile spreads across my face.

"Come on now boys." I think Naminé is still laughing. Our laughing slowly ends as we get on the Link back to the Town. As the only ones on the train, we have a silent ride back. Outside the window, the lights of Twilight Falls zip passed. Kairi's leaned her head against me, and I'm really sleepy for some reason. I guess it's just one of those days.

The train comes to a slow halt. I don't like how it gets dark so early now. We lived here for some of the summer, but it's only 7 o'clock. Granted it would still be light out if we didn't stop for dinner before, but still. We step out on to the platform where there are a few more people, but not many. There isn't a lot going on tonight, so it makes sense.

"It's kind of nice think that we're going to do something like this. No Unversed or Heartless or Nobodies, just college with my best friends," Ven's the first one on the steps.

"Yeah, I'm just glad I've got you guys to go through it with..." What? Something just moved...

"Sora? Is everything okay?" I turn back to look at my brother and the others.

"Uh...yeah...I just thought I saw something...move," I check again just to be sure, " I guess it was nothing." We keep going up the staircase; it must have been my imagination.

* * *

"Night Ven! See you tomorrow!" We all shout as we walk down the hill back toward our apartments. We stop at Kairi's and Naminé's first. Here we say our brief goodbyes, each capped with a quick kiss. Then we take the short walk back up the hill toward our apartment.

"Are you sure there wasn't anything back in the Station? I swear I saw something." We get in the elevator to our apartment. The others look around at each other, but none of them seem to have noticed anything.

"I didn't see anything..." at least Tobi looks like he's trying to really think about it, "but that doesn't mean there wasn't something...remember back at the Pyramid." Ah...that right, fighting Heartless in the middle of Pyramid hall, good brother bonding time, if we'd known we were related then.

"Yeah, maybe it was trying to hide and you were the only one who saw it." Roxas unlocks our door and wave of warm air rushes out of the living room.

"Or maybe I was just seeing things." I shrug off my backpack as I sit in front of the TV. Tobi lands beside me, while Roxas crosses his legs as he sits in front of us. Van tosses his bag in his room before plops into "his" chair in the living room. For the most part we don't move for a few hours. Roxas and Tobi have us watch the news for a little bit, not much interesting happened today. Then we sit around for another hour and a half watching some new shows that started tonight, I'm not impressed.

"Alright, goodnight, guys." Roxas cracks his back before wandering to our room.

"I'm going to bed too. G'Night!" Tobi offers a small wave. Van gives me a kind of salute thing as he follows behind his roommate. I guess I should go to bed too. With a long yawn, I head back to our room. Roxas is still awake when I walk in; I think he's reading a book.

"You ready for tomorrow?" He doesn't even look up from his book.

"Yeah, got that Mood Music class in the morning and then drawing with Naminé in the afternoon."

"Pretty easy day? I think that is everyone's first class, except for Kairi who has that fun 8 am," Roxas chuckles a bit before he puts down his book.

"Hopefully. Thursday, I have that Keyblade history class with you guys and then modern lit with Naminé and Ven after that. They're back to back, so I'm done at 11:30."

"Cool. Well, I'm going to bed, so goodnight." He turns off his table's light and slides under his covers.

"Night!" With a click our room goes dark.

* * *

Only a minute more...come on Roxas...okay...there's the alarm, wake up Roxas. He's getting up.

"Morning Roxas!" My pillow flies through the air, smacking him in the face, "Ha! Take that!" I manage to duck just as the pillow comes back.

"I'll get you for that later," he swings his legs out from under the covers.

"Sure you will. You going to take a shower first?"

"Yep...I'll be quick."

"Don't rush; we've got until 9 before we have to leave."

Roxas and I join Tobi and Van in the living room about twenty minutes before we have to leave. None of us really say much as we eat breakfast, which for me is cereal. We meet Ven and Naminé at the station since Kairi is already at the campus.

"You guys ready for this?" Ven asks as we start down toward the Link.

"Yep, how many classes do you have today?" I readjust my backpack's straps.

" I've got the one today and three tomorrow," Ven replies with his head down, but he perks right back up.

"I've got three today and one tomorrow, " Naminé smiles.

"Same," Van answers without much emotion.

"Two and two," Tobi grins.

"Me too, " Roxas and I match. The Link arrives and we get on. It only takes fifteen minutes for us to get back to the campus. It isn't as bright today, but it's still pretty warm.

"Oh look Serah's over there under the tree," Roxas points over to one of the trees in the Courtyard.

"Oh cool, hey Serah!" I jog over to the tree. With a smile, she stands as we come near her.

"Hey guys! Are you..." what's going on? Serah's eyes look glazed over...what's she looking at? We all turn around.

"Naminé, Kairi take Serah and run..."


	7. Fear of the Unknown

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. **

A/N: What'd Roxas see? What's going on? I guess you'll just have to read on to find out! I hope you like what you see here! This is a very short chapter, but I think it made for a decent natural ending. Please read and review! Thanks!

* * *

Part VII: Fear of the Unknown

"Roxas?! What's going on?" I don't think Naminé can see passed him. If she could, she'd know what's going on.

"Kairi just go. Tell the President or the police or something."

"Sora, what's going on?" I move out of Kairi's way and let her see the creatures climbing over the tops of the buildings "Wha..."

"Come on!" I turn to see Serah leading them away from us. I hope they'll be okay. I can't worry about them now.

"So much for normal," with a sigh Tobi takes out his Keyblade. these monsters are totally different They don't look like anything we're seen before. They don't have any of the usual symbols. Could they be Heartless? Like the shadows? Ah man...these have nasty teeth too.

"What are they?" They aren't really attacking us, just staring with their teeth showing. Not even Ven's question startled them. Each one of the...things has this dark fog around them.

"Don't know, but I'm not waiting to find out," Van's right on top of them. I can't let him go alone. Whoa, now they attack back. Those teeth are wicked sharp. So much for my new t-shirt. They dissolve like the Shadows. Still, they're more dangerous. I slip behind them. I fire one of them in the butt. That makes one less. Van and Tobi seem to be handling that one. Roxas and Ven are on the other. I guess that leaves the last one for me. Here we go. Jeez...this one's fast. It's leaping from one tree to the next, and I can't get anywhere near it. WHAT THE HECK? I roll away as this mass of black flies from its mouth. Yikes, glad I moved. It ripped a hole in the ground.

"Need some help?" That's a relief. Tobi must've finished with theirs.

"Sure," These things are much harder than Heartless. This one's got me panting already, and it doesn't even seem tired. Tobi, Van and I surround the thing as best as we can. Luckily Tobi's pretty agile so he takes most of its attention. That leaves it open for Van and I. At the same moment our Keys slash through the middle of the thing. With a howl the monster falls over and starts dissolving into black wisps of smoke. Man...that was tough...I think I'll sit here for a sec.

"What were those things?" Tobi falls beside me...breathing just as heavily. Ven, Roxas and Van stumble over toward us. I think Roxas might be hurt...he's clutching his side, which is never a good thing.

"I've never seen anything like them..." Ven looks over to the still evaporating body and then over to Van.

"Don't look at me. I stopped with the whole Unversed thing before I made my apology to you, remember?" That must still be a touchy subject for them.

"But, then what were they? Heartless? They weren't Nobodies, that's for sure."

"Roxas! You're bleeding," Tobi and I rush to him. We saw it after he removed his hand from his side. It looks like a pretty big cut too. Ven and Van now right beside us.

"I'm okay...it's...owww...okay that hurt,"

"You've got a pretty deep cut Roxas," Tobi peels away the sides of his clothes.

"We're going to have to get him to the hospital."

"Ven's right. Van hand me you knife," Tobi reaches out to grab the metal blade Van's holding out. He cuts off the leftover fabric from around the cut. Wow...it's a lot deeper than I thought. "Sora, call an ambulance. We're not going to be able to get him there ourselves. And can one of you call Naminé and let her know to mee us there?" Tobi leads Roxas to a bench.

"I'll do it. I'l let Aqua and Terra know too. They're going to want to know."

"Okay, the ambulance'll be right over," I join the others on the bench.

"Sure is a bummer that cure doesn't work to close open wounds like this," Roxas cringes as he tries shifting.

"You know, I bet the more you move, the more you hurt yourself," I wag my finger at him like I'm scolding him. He scowls and sticks his tongue out at me.

"Okay, Serah and Kairi will meet us at the hospital, but Naminé is on her way here," Ven puts his phone in his pocket.

"She was supposed..."

"I know. I know, but I couldn't change her mind."

"Here comes the ambulance."


	8. Shadowed Moments

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or any of the related characters.**

A/N: What the heck were those things?! Is Roxas going to be okay?! What's going to happen next? I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out then! Please leave reviews, even if they're only a word long. Thanks!

* * *

Chapter VIII: Shadowed Moments

Naminé and Roxas went into the ambulance, but we weren't far behind them. I think we were at the hospital about two minutes after the ambulance. We're now just sitting in the waiting room, wondering what's going to happen. Tobi and Ven are coming back from the Nurses' desk, so maybe they have something. I look up with huge eyes. Aw man…he's shaking his head.

"They said his injuries were non-life threatening, but they can't let us see him for a couple of hours."

"What are they waiting for? Why can't we go see him?" I leap from my chair. If they aren't doing anything for him, we should be able to see him.

"Sora calm down. They just want to make sure everything is okay with Roxas," ugh…Ven why do you always have to put logic into everything. I just want to be upset right now.

"How can I be calm?! Roxas is hurt and we don't even know by what!"

"Look, we'll figure everything out as soon as we make sure Roxas is okay," leave it to Tobi to stay calm.

"Hello everyone…"

"Naminé! How's Roxas?" We crowd her as she steps from the swinging doors.

"Well…he's okay…sore, but okay. The doctor said we can go see him in a couple of minutes. They want to check his cut one more time before they're ready to let him go," she sighs.

"Oh! We finally found you!" Kairi comes up behind us with Serah in tow.

"Kairi! What took you so long?" I pull out of her hug.

"Um…well…we got lost in the Town."

"Wait I thought you were with…"

"It's a long story," Serah stops Kairi. Okay, maybe another time.

"How's Roxas?" Kairi turns to her Nobody.

"He's okay. We'll be allowed in soon. They want to check a few more things before they let us in."

"Tobi what were those things?" I turn to look at my brother and Serah.

"I don't know. They're like nothing any of us have seen."

"Yeah…and I mean they're not Heartless or Nobodies. They're not even Dream Eaters." Finishing as I walk up to them.

"And they weren't Unversed, so don't look at me," I wonder why Van is still so jumpy about that. They forgave him for it after all.

"So what are you going to do?" Kairi and Naminé rejoin us near Serah.

"We were going to go see Yen Sid and see if he knows anything."

"So I take it this means you'll be leaving again?" I hate when Kairi's upset.

"I hope not. I want a chance to just do what normal kids do. No more adventures, no more journeys, just college and complaining about homework."

"You do know that's not all we do, right?" Turning I see Serah putting her hands on her hips.

"I hope not, but I wanted to live a normal life. Or at least more normal than what we're used to."

"I think that lovely little Key is going to stand in the way." Tobi's right…no matter how much I may not like it, my life will never be "normal." Oh well, I wouldn't give up all the stuff I've done for that life anyway.

"Excuse me…are you the ones with Roxas…"

"Yes! Can we go see him?" I probably shouldn't have cut her off. Oh, she's smiling, I guess that it'll be okay.

"Yes, the doctor needs to finish some paperwork and then he should be ready to go home," smiling, the nurse turns back to her desk. With only a look to the others, I head back to where Roxas is. Oh, would've been smart to let Naminé go first.

"Uh…Naminé…where is…"

"He's in the third room on the left," she gives me her usual warm smile.

"Thanks!" I rub the back of my hair before rushing down to Roxas' room. "Roxas!"

"Wagh! Sora…next time knock!"

"Oh come on Roxas, we're roommates and you're my Nobody, I've seen you in boxers before." For some reason he stops putting on his pants before yelling at me. Okay, now he finishes as everyone else walks in. "You ready to go home?" I put my hand on his shoulder as he finishes putting on his shirt.

"How are you feeling Roxas?"

"Not bad Tobi. They gave me these pain meds that took away the sting. Check out this scar though."

"Wow, that's cool...they had to put a lot of stitches in it didn't they." Roxas lowers his shirt before I can touch his mark. "And yeah, let's go home. It's been a long day already."

"Awesome," Ven cheers from behind me.

"Did you guys find out what those things were yet?" Roxas says tying his shoes.

"No…we were going to go see Yen Sid once you were up to it. We figured that he would probably know," I answer.

"Sorry it took us so long," Aqua walks through the door with Terra not far behind.

"Yeah, traffic was terrible. How are you doing Roxas?"

"I'm okay…it's gonna hurt for a little while they said, but it should be okay."

"Good, at least you can get better."

"Excuse me are you Roxas' parents?" Who? Did they just ask Aqua and Terra if they were his parents? That's a funny thought.

"No, but…we're…"that's all I hear before they disappear outside the door. Is something wrong?


	9. The Heart of the Problem

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters mentioned here beyond Tobi, who is mine.**

A/N: Aqua and Terra are Roxas' parents?! What? Okay, just kidding, that's not what happened. Anyway, I wonder what the doctor had to say. Is something wrong with Roxas? Is it something to do with those weird creatures? I guess you'll (hopefully) just have to keep reading! This chapter has a lot of emotional jumping. There's a bit of fun and cheerful stuff in the beginning, but then we start getting into the real meat of this story! You heard, er…read me right, this is where the story really begins. Sorry about all that exposition in the earlier chapters. I planned on taking this story in a whole different direction, but I guess I'm not the one in charge then am I? Oh well, I hope you all like this! Please leave reviews, even if they're short! A short review is better than no review at all. Thanks!

* * *

Chapter IX: The Heart of the Problem

I wonder what the doctor told Aqua and Terra. They wouldn't tell us. I guess it wasn't anything too bad because they discharged him right after. Roxas went home with Terra and Aqua rather than with us in the Link. He kept saying that he was fine, but I'm not sure if I believe him. Either way, it was after noon by the time we got out of the hospital, so we decided to just skip class for the rest of the day. Not that tomorrow will be any different. We're going to go see Yen Sid, Merlin and the King tomorrow. We're hoping they'll be able to tell us something. Well, us minus Serah, she went back to the school. It kinda makes sense though, since she only got swept up into this morning, and she has her own life.

"So I bet our professors _love _us after today," Tobi turns the key and opens the door to our apartment. The rest of us step in behind him.

"Oh yeah," Van tosses his bag on the couch. Ven's making sure Roxas doesn't do anything stupid since he's hurt. Aqua and Terra had to go back to work, so they can't be our "parents" today. Not that it was too big a deal since we did call them first.

"What're we going to do? We can't just have those things running around," Kairi closes the door behind her. She and Naminé decided to spend the rest of the day with us since their school day was shot too.

"We're going to go see Yen Sid about them tomorrow," I wrap my arms around her. She smiles up at me after the small kiss I gave her.

"Rox, are you sure you're okay?" Naminé moves closer to Roxas whose face has been slapped with a permanent wince ever since we got home. I think he moved too much, but he wouldn't listen to any of us.

"I'm fine." See look at that, he had to say that through his teeth! That's not fine, but there's not a lot of reasoning with him.

"Roxas! You couldn't even say that without wincing!" Tobi shakes his head.

"Hey, you'd be the same way, and you know it!" Roxas shouts with a smile forming on his lips.

"Just because you're my twin's Nobody, that doesn't mean you know me." Tobi's laughing as he folds his arms.

"Actually yes, but we've also been living together for almost a year now!" Both of them are laughing now, hopefully that means they're done.

"Do they always do that?" I have to lean closer to hear Kairi. I smile.

"Sometimes. I think they're more alike than Roxas and I are." Since my head is on top of hers I can feel her smile.

"Will the two of you stop? You sound worse than Aqua and Terra picking out paint!" I forgot that Van got wrangled into going with them that day. I never found out why, bribery or blackmail are the first things that come to mind. Actually, you'd be surprised what that kid would do for chocolate, so it doesn't sound too hard to bribe him. Still his comment makes us all laugh.

"Sorry…" Roxas and Tobi mimic each other.

We don't do much for the rest of the day. Ven went home about ten minutes ago after Tobi and Roxas, against our better judgment, made dinner, it was really good, but still Roxas shouldn't've been moving that much.

"Goodnight guys! Are you sure we can't come with you guys tomorrow?" I love when I get to hug her.

"Yeah…you should try and get some of your classes in." Aw…Roxas is nuzzling Naminé with his nose, "Are you sure you don't want us to walk you home?"

"No, you need to stop moving. You go lie down." Naminé walks with Roxas over to the couch. Wow, she waited for him to sit before she even headed to the door.

"Okay…I love you!"

"I love you too."

"Bye guys," there they go…

"So what're we going to do now?" I flop on the couch next to my brother and my Nobody.

"The usual?" Tobi looks over to me. By only sharing a look, we all agree. I love these guys. So that makes our night, a movie, popcorn and some stupid laughs.

* * *

"Everyone ready?" Tobi slips on the shoulder armor piece that Aqua and Terra gave us all once we got back. The sun hasn't totally come up yet, but we're hoping to get to see Yen Sid as soon as possible.

"Yep," I take my armor bit and clamp it on my shoulder. The bright flash from these things is still surprising. "It's weird how easy these things move around." I twist back and forth in my cool black and blue Keyblade armor that I've used all of once.

"Well, yeah it's kinda supposed to be." I guess the fun's worn off for Ven. "Are you finished?"

"Sorry Ven, but Sora's right, this is fun!" See Roxas was right, Tobi and I think alike. "But you're right, we should probably get going. Five Keyblades fly into the air and fall back as our gliders. With a jump, we're on our way.

* * *

It doesn't take long for his tower to come into view. That weird twisted building has been in my life more than I would've liked it to be. I mean, I like Yen Sid and he knows so much, it's just we never seem to be here for good reasons. I'm leading everyone here, since I'm the only one that's been here more than once. Although, it was never in a glider, so we had some moments when we were lost, but oh well, I'm sure Roxas'll get over it. Great, there's a gummi ship here. Let's hope it's from the King. I wonder if he brought Donald and Goofy with him. I haven't seen them since we moved to Twilight Town. That was almost…a year ago…wow. Here we go, I jump down from my glider. Cool, this armor makes those jumps softer too! I can hear the others landing behind me. This time I'm ready for the flash. With that we all start up into the Tower.

Ugh…these stairs still suck. No matter how many times I have to go up here these never…get…any…better, yuck. Oh well, we're here. Crap…I should've been checking up on Roxas. Well at least Ven's walking with him. I'll make it up to him later.

"Everyone here?"

"No." Van rolls his eyes. Why does he always have to be so sarcastic?

"Ha…ha…" I push open the big wooden door, "Hello?"

"Sora!"

"You're all here!"

"Guys! Oomph!" I get tackled by my favorite dog and duck. "Hey…guys…can you let…me up? Please?" I guess I know how Tobi felt those times now. Whew, they're getting off. Now I can actually stand.

"Gawrsh…Sora, you need ta stop growin'"

"Heh…sorry," I rub the back of my head, "I couldn't help it." I offer a big smile. I'm glad I can still make them laugh.

"Hiya everyone!" I look over to the King as he walks toward us. "Gee, Roxas what happened to ya?"

"I was kinda hoping you'd be able to tell me that."

"Indeed, perhaps we can shed some light on the situation." I turn to the man with the very deep voice.

"Master Yen Sid," unlike usual I'm the first one to bow. The others must not be far behind since Yen Sid smiles at us.

"Terra n' Aqua talked to us yesterday. They said something attacked you guys," we all go to Yen Sid's desk as the King talks.

"Yeah, we were going to school and these weird monsters came out of nowhere and attacked us." Tobi crosses his arms.

"Were they Heartless?" I try not to laugh at the way Donald talks. Oh come on, give me a break, it's been a year!

"We don't think so. They didn't look anything we'd seen before. They weren't like real things either. They were like fog almost. You know what I mean?" I wonder if Roxas knew he held his hand over his scar as he mentioned that.

"Yeah, they were made of these wisps of darkness, but they were formed into that of an animal. It's kind of like when I get thrown into anti-form, those little black things that fly around. Yeah, they were made of those or at least something like it." I'm not sure that was the best way to describe them, but it's all I've really got.

"Hmm…that is quite disturbing. Tell me, did these creatures resemble something of this nature?" A puff of smoke appears and fades as Yen Sid waves his hands over his desk.

"That's it," Van says before I can even think up an answer.

"It is worse than I feared." I hear Goofy's muffled "gawrsh" in the background.

"What is it?" The King gets closer to the moving image.

"This is what is called…a Rifter."

"A Rifter? That's a strange name." I can't tell if Tobi's confused or upset at the name.

"You of all people should be most familiar with them Tobi, for they come from only one place." Tobi's arms and mouth drop a bit, "That is correct, the Realm of Life."

"But…but how is that even possible? We never saw any of these things when we were there?" I bend down to look at the weird thing.

"You were not truly in that realm. You were on the world that did but one thing, which is guard the entrance to the Realm. These are beings of pure Chaos. Chaos given life and made far more dangerous."

"But…I thought that we sealed it away. How…are these even here? And I thought Chaos destroyed worlds, not attacked people." Tobi looks more confused than any of us, so far at least.

"You are correct in a way. Your efforts did prevent a horrific cataclysm, the likes of which have never been told, but these monsters can form from the smallest portion of Chaos. It is possible before you were able to seal the Keyhole, some Chaos was able to slip out."

"Excuse me Master, but uh…what is this here Chaos stuff?" Oh Goofy! Yen Sid nods.

"As you know, every person is made of a body, a soul, and perhaps up until this point, most importantly a heart, correct?" We all nod. "When a being passes on from this life, the heart goes to become one with Kingdom Hearts, the body withers away, but the soul passes to the Realm of Life. If a soul is tormented upon death, as is the case with many that become Heartless, but lack a Nobody, the soul becomes a tattered and fading essence that is left to wander the vast expanse between the Realms. During this time, portions of the soul begin to shred as if paper. It is these incomplete souls that form the Chaos."

"What if the soul isn't torn?" The King seems as interested as we are.

"That is something even I do not know. What lies beyond in the Realm of Life is a mystery to all who reside here. It is a one way passage. Once you are in there, you do not come out."

"But that still doesn't explain what it wants here," Roxas steps back against the wall.

"Again that is something I do not know. This is something that has not happened before. It is a threat unheard of. I am not certain of what to do."

* * *

A/N: What?! How does he not know?! XD Please review!


	10. Safe in the Cocoon

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy XIII**

A/N: Hi Everyone! Well that was a nice bit of adventurous stuff in the last chapter, huh? Well, this chapter just continues right where the last left off and then the real adventure begins! Just to give full disclosure, the timeline of the two Final Fantasy games is kinda totally out the window. My logic in that is that…maybe…Serah found a time gate that led back to before FF XIII, so yeah, just suspend your disbelief please! Thanks! Please read and review!

* * *

Chapter X: Safe in the Cocoon

"Bu…bu…but…Master? How do'ya not know?" Mickey's right, how does he not know?!

"Not everything is within my sight. This is a topic upon which I can pass no judgment."

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

"There is one thing that may be of some help. With your defeat of Xehanort, there should not be a way for him to come back." Merlin finally breaks his silence.

"But that means someone else is out there." Goofy hangs his head a bit.

"Indeed…but the question is who." I turn back to Yen Sid at his desk then to the others around me. Come on Tobi! He's usually the planner of the two of us, but he's not giving me anything.

"What do you think you're Majesty?" I'm hoping he has an answer.

"Well…we haven't heard of anything anywhere else…so uh…um…"

"Mickey?" Ven looks down at the small, but dignified mouse.

"Gee I don't know…well…"

"Perhaps something different is in order given these circumstances," Yen Sid speaks again as we all break from our mini-trances. I tilt my head and raise an eyebrow toward him.

"Uh…"

"What I mean is perhaps there is a new world for you to venture to. I have heard of a place that has an unconventional connection with Chaos." A puff of smoke appears on his desk in place of the Rifter from before. In its place is this strange looking world with a hole in the center of it, and there's this thing below it too…it looks like another world.

"What is this place?" Roxas leans up against the desk. I join him in staring at the strange image.

"Ah, yes Cocoon, an interesting place to say the least." Merlin steps up with us, "Below it is the world of Pulse, a wild world that hasn't seen human life in hundreds of years."

"Cocoon is a world under the sway of beings known as the Fal'Cie. I do not know much about these creatures, but I do feel that this is our most promising of prospects."

"How are we going to look at both worlds though? It'll take forever," Ven almost seems to whine from behind us.

"We'll go with you to help." Awesome! I get to go on an adventure with Donald and Goofy again!

"Maybe we should split up. You know, into teams…like Ven, Van and I will go down to this is Pulse place and you four can go up there to Co…Coco…whatever it's called."

"Cocoon." Tobi smirks before Roxas rolls his eyes and sticks his tongue out.

"But what about the girls?" My mind drifts back to Kairi. I'd feel really bad if I had to leave them again, especially after all of these adventures that's she's not be able to go on. Well, at least willingly.

"Won't they like getting a chance to go to college? I know that Nami's been looking forward to it for a long time."

"But…Kairi always gets left behind…I feel so bad."

"Don't you think she'd understand Sora?" I look to my twin.

"I guess, but…I don't know. I guess I'll just talk to her about it before I go…and maybe…I don't know."

"Very well, you should leave as soon as possible." I nod to the Master and take that to be our cue to leave.

"And don't worry about Kairi and Naminé, I'll make sure they stay safe!" The King gives me a huge smile that makes me feel a lot better about maybe leaving Kairi here.

"Thanks you're Majesty!" I put my hands behind my head and give him a huge smile. With a bow we all leave the room, and ugh…the stairs.

* * *

"So Sora, whatcha been up to?" Goofy asks as we make it down all those stupid stairs.

"Not much lately. School, well I guess not anymore. Mostly dealing with these guys." I say with a huge smile.

"Hey!" I guess Tobi was the only one that was paying attention. I love my brother!

"Whata 'bout you Tobi? Are you liking it here?"

"Yeah it's great! Despite what Sora says, he's the one that's tough to deal with!" Wow, Tobi can actually understand Donald, that's surprising, what a minute…hey!

"Whatdya mean? I'm the fun one!" I spin around to be face to face with him.

"The spider in my bed?! I mean come on!"

"It was Halloween!"

"I wish I had never told you about that stupid holiday." I turn to the others who've started laughing at us. "What?"

"The two of you. It never really gets old." Ven's nearly bent over. I didn't think it was that funny.

"It does get old, but not this time." Even Van's laughing and he hardly ever laughs at least that hard. I scowl back at them, but I can't keep it. I join them in laughing until we get to the gummi ship at the bottom of these awful stairs. The four of us hop into the ship while the others put on their armor.

"Everyone ready to go?" I tap on some of the buttons of the gummi ship. I can hear the engines starting up and the whole ship is rumbling.

"Good to go!" Ven's voice comes across the radio.

"Alright, see you back Home." I let them lift off first before sending the gummi ship off.

"So this is the famous gummi ship you've told me so much about." I look back at my brother as the ship starts going on its own.  
"Yep. Pretty cool huh?" I walk back to where he's sitting.

"Yeah...it's a lot bigger on the inside."

"You've never been in a gummi ship before, Tobi?" Donald's voice reaches us from the front.

"Nope, I've been in planes before, but never anything like this. It's kinda awesome."

"Well you're gonna see a whole bunch from up here! Just you wait!"

"Oh don't worry, I'm looking forward to it."

It doesn't take that long for us to get back to Twilight Town. We head straight for the school. I asked Kairi and Namine to meet us in the courtyard.

"Sora! Tobi!"

"Kairi!" I run over to her with Tobi in tow.

"You guys are back! How'd it go?" Kairi wraps her arms around me as the others join us.

"Welcome back Roxas," I watch as Roxas embraces Naminé.

"It was bad. We have to leave again." I feel her tense up.

"Again..." Aw...I think she started trembling. I knew I shouldn't've told her.

"I'm sorry Kairi…but…" I'm not sure how I'm going to explain this…

"Just stay safe…okay?" Her arms tighten around me.

"Thanks Kairi, don't worry I will. Plus I've got these guys to protect me!" Maybe I shouldn't have tried to be funny…oh she's laughing, guess I'm okay!

"All right then, you guys make sure you get him back safely, okay?"

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to him, I kinda owe it to him." Tobi joins in the little bit of laughter.

"Same for you Roxas. I need you to come back, alright?" Roxas leans his head down to her.

"No problem Nami." That nuzzling would be cuter, if it wasn't my roommate, but eh, whatever.

"Hi everyone! How are you all doing?" Where is that…

"Serah! Hi, it um...well…not so good…" Tobi's the first of us to respond.

"We have to leave." Van's always good at getting to the point.

"Oh…"

"Yeah for some place called…uh…Co…Coco…Cooco…"

"Cocoon," Donald finishes Goofy's sentence, he's been doing that a lot lately.

"Cocoon?" She seemed to get really excited about that… "That's my home!" That's why.

"Really?" Not sure why I asked that…

"Yeah, I'm from a town named Bodhum there. I know it really well. Eden's really beautiful too."

"Hey Sora, maybe we should take her along with us…I mean she knows this place and that'll be a big help." I have to step closer to hear what Tobi's saying.

"I don't know…I mean we said no to Kairi…"

"But she knows where she's going, plus she knows about the people."

"Tobi's right Sora, Serah might be good to have." Not sure why, but Goofy's argument is what put it over the top for me, but I still see what Donald has to say.

"Sounds good to me." Well, I guess that settles it.

"Hey Serah…would you…maybe…be…not totally against going with us to help us get around Cocoon?" Nice job Tobi, way to actually ask the question.

"Uh…um…this is kind of sudden…well…what about school and…"

"They're right, Kupo." Who said that? I spin around and around looking for the source of that voice.

"What do you mean Mog?" Oh, that's kinda cool, Serah has a Moogle! This one, Mog, looks a bit different from the one's I've seen, but hey it's still cool.

"They need you to help them save the world, Kupo. Without you they won't get very far." The little guy is carrying a weird little clock staff.

"But…"

"They don't have much other hope, kupo…"

"Will you come along too, Mog?"

"You're not getting rid of me that easily, kupo!" I love when that little thing talks it's so funny.

"Okay guys, I'll go with you, but Mog's part of the deal, okay?" I shake my head really fast, I love that little thing and I've barely met him! "Alright then! When do we leave?" I give Kairi one last squeeze and a kiss before I decide to answer.

"As soon as you're ready."

* * *

A/N: We're on way! Please Review! Thanks!


	11. Prep for Landing

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts nor Final Fantasy XIII.**

A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry it's been such a long time since I've updated this. Finals are coming up and I've been wicked busy. Anyway, this chapter gets everyone to where they need to go, plus it helps to reveal some extra plot points that will be helpful later, but that's all I'm telling you! Anyway, please enjoy and review! Thanks!

And thanks to **XaccemFlare **for all the great reviews that have been super helpful so far!

* * *

Chapter XI: Prep for Landing

Kairi and Naminé are coming with us to the gummi ship. I guess this will be our last few moments together for a while I guess. I hate to have to leave her like that, but Mickey said he'll keep them safe, so I really have nothing to worry about. I wonder what it will be like when we get to this Cocoon place. The way Serah talked about it makes it sound pretty awesome. Well, here we are. Donald and Goofy are already inside. I look over to Kairi.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine! Besides, this way I can really help you with your homework when you get back!" I'm going to miss that smile of hers. It's always so bright and it makes you feel warm.

"Ya sure? I mean I could always…" Wow, um…okay, I'll take that.

"I'm sure." I'm still stunned after that kiss, but I guess that means she'll be alright.

"Okay…love you!" I give her one last hug and a smile before turning to the ship. There's a bright flash off to the side, so the others must be ready to go. I can hear Tobi climbing the ladder, so Serah must be right behind him. Look at that Mog can just float…er…fly into the ship, but his wings aren't…moving…uh…okay then. Serah and Tobi sit toward the back while Goofy, Donald and me are up front ready to pilot this thing. Come to think of it though, I don't know where Cocoon is. "Um…guys…where are we going? Like direction-wise?"

"Don't worry, Chip and Dale uploaded the directions Master Yen Sid gave us before we left." Donald was always good about getting things put together, which is a good thing. Well not at first because he always seemed so bossy back then.

"Great! Are they all ready to go?" I can't quite see them outside this ship's windows.

"If by "they", you mean us then yes." It sounds like Van's voice on the radio, but it's hard to tell.

"So, uh…those guys are gonna follow behind us, right?" Goofy's doing something to one of the screens that the ship has.

"Right." That might have been Ven or Roxas, but…well…yeah.

"Watch out for the engines!"

"Sure Donald." Wow, Van sounds even less impressed than usual. "Wagh!"

"Should've listened Van!" Just like Tobi, I can't hold in my laugh. I mean it just kinda came out. Don't worry though, I bet that armor cushioned his fall, so he'll be fine. With that we start up and away from our cozy little home. I know we've only been here a year, but I think I'm going to miss living here, and you know, having a bed. I watch as the buildings get smaller and smaller, Kairi and Naminé are both gone. Looks like our…next…adventure's about to start.

"So, Serah, what's Cocoon and Pulse like?" I turn to Tobi and Serah before walking back to them.

"Well, I've never been to Pulse before…"

"Kupo?" Why did Serah give that look to Mog? Maybe I missed something.

"Anyway, like I said I haven't been to Pulse, but it's supposed to be this hellish wasteland. There used to be people living there, but that was centuries ago. Cocoon though is where I'm from. It's this really amazing place."

"Wait, what are they going to find on Pulse then?" I don't like the sound of "hellish wasteland."

"I've heard it's nothing but monsters, but I think they'll be okay."

"Ven, why did Aqua and Terra want to stay behind? They seemed so interested back at the hospital." That must have been Roxas' voice over the radio. I wonder if they heard what we were saying. Probably not though because I bet they would've said something about it.

"Well, um…hm…I…uh…"

"Come on Ven, what's up?" I make my way back up to the front. Geez, I'm doing a lot of walking on this trip.

"I'm not sure…oh what the heck, Aqua's pregnant. She and Terra didn't want to come because she didn't want to hurt the baby."

"She's pregnant?!" Wow, we managed to get a seven person unison thing. Kind of impressive.

"Yeah, she and Terra found out about a week ago, but they didn't want me to tell you guys."

"Wow, that's cool!" Tobi would find that cool, but I can only think about Aqua and Terra and…never mind. Don't want that image.

"Okay, so what did Yen Sid want then? You know when he kept you back at the tower." I saw Yen Sid take him toward the back room, but I hadn't asked until now.

"Well, you know how you and Riku got to take your Mark of Mastery exam while I was…asleep…"

"Yeah…but what does that have to do with anything? I didn't pass and blah, blah, blah."

"So, this is my chance! He said if and when we get this whole thing fixed, if I made it out "alive", he would make me a master!"

"That's awesome Ven!" Wow, we're pretty good with the whole unison thing, except for Van who I didn't hear on that last one.

"Yeah, so that's why."

"Wait, what's a Mark of Mastery exam? Is it something to do with your Keyblades?"

"Sorta," I guess I'll let Tobi explain it to Serah. "It's like those exit exams we get in school. Like the ones you have to take before most people get to go to college…"

"Okay…"

"Well, it's kinda like that, but with Keyblades. In a kinda simplified description anyway." So, that cheesy smile thing must be genetic, either that or he just stole it from me.

"Well, okay then. I guess that makes some sort of sense."

"Sounds complicated, kupo!"

"So what's your story Mog? How'd you meet Serah?" He and Serah share a look for some reason.

"Well…uh…um…I was out…in…where was it, kupo?"

"Nautilus, remember you were getting pecked at by some Chocobos."

"Oh, right. I tried to get that out of my memory..." Even his laugh sounds like a little kid.

"And you just went along with her after that?" Donald turns away from all the buttons on the ship.

"That's how it works, kupo! I sorta owed it to her after she saved me from all those nasty birds."

"Hey!"

"You're not a chocobo are you, kupo?"

"No, I'm a duck!"

"See, no problem, kupo!" Wow, that really made Donald upset. Guess, he's touchy about the bird thing.

"We can't be too far away by now." Serah joins us up by the front, and Tobi and Mog aren't far behind. I love that Cid was nice enough to add that new warp drive. These trips are so much faster.

"Whad're we gonna do once we get there? Do we know where to look?" Goofy spins his chair around to look at us.

"Well, Eden is where the Sanctum is located. It's where all the best universities are, so we might find something there."

"The Sanctum?" I tilt my head as I look at Serah.

"It's the government of Cocoon. The Primarch, Galenth Dysley, is our leader. The fal'Cie Eden speaks to him, but other than that the fal'Cie don't do much with our lives."

"What are these fal'Cie things?"

"The fal'Cie are these creatures that protect and maintain human life inside Cocoon. They do all sorts of things, kupo."

"They usually let us handle our own lives, unless we do something really bad."

"Hey do any of you guys know what we're looking for on Pulse? It's Roxas." His voice breaks up our conversation.

"No clue Roxas."

"Thanks Sora, but I kinda was talking more to Serah."

"Sorry Roxas. I don't know anything about Pulse. There are no people down there, but other than that I don't know anything about it." Serah looks to Mog before turning to the radio, I wonder why they keep doing that. Must just be a strange thing.

"You might want to check the Paddraean Archaeopolis, kupo."

"You might want to say that so that they can hear you Mog."

"The Paddraean Archaeopolis was this old city, kupo. Where there used to be people, kupo."

"How do we find it?" Van's voice comes through the speakers.

"It's a bunch of ruins near the big flat area. You can't miss it, kupo." I wonder what made him annoyed like that. We didn't really say anything. He must not be used to someone like Van.

"Okay everyone, Cocoon and Pulse, straight ahead." Donald's pressing a bunch of buttons on the ship. Hopefully, the ones to land us safely.

"Alright, guys we'll see you…eventually, I guess."

"Be safe guys." Tobi and I crowd around the radio.

"No problem! We'll be fine. Just don't go forgetting about us!"

"Thanks…uh…"

"Roxas."

"Thanks Roxas!" Hey, Tobi stole my line!

* * *

A/N: Alright here we go! Cocoon and Pulse dead ahead! Please review! Thanks!


	12. A Safe-ish Landing

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy XIII. Wish I did, but I don't.**

A/N: Cool! We've made it to Cocoon and Pulse that means the adventure can really begin! This time it gets kicked off with a big start and it doesn't slow down. I'm not going to make you wait any longer. I hope you like it! Thanks for reading!

* * *

Chapter XII: A Safe-ish Landing

"We're heading into the atmosphere." Donald taps on the screens and the rest of us take our seats throughout the ship.

"Serah, where's Eden?" Goofy turns back to us.

"Isn't Eden protected by a shield, kupo?" A shield? Why…

"Oh…you're right Mog. I completely forgot. They won't let us get into Eden with this ship. We're going to have to land outside of Palumpolum." Tobi and I look at each other before asking the obvious question.

"So, where is Palupople or whatever." Good job Tobi, I'm pretty sure you just butchered that name. Well, Serah's laughing at least.

"I don't know where Palupople is, but Palumpolum is a place I do. It's on the surface near the coastline. It's an enormous city. I'm sure we'll see it."

"Well, we can see the ground now." Wow, this must be tough, Donald's using the manual controls. Look at that! The sun is inside the world. Literally, it is inside the shell of this world. That is super cool!

"What is that?" I think Tobi's mouth just fell off. I really love his expressions.

"That is Phoenix, Cocoon's own light in the sky. It's a fal'Cie." I stare at the object…er…fal'Cie that Serah is pointing out. We fly around the massive thing. I can't help but look at it…just…wow… As we pass, the light fades a little bit and I can see below. The whole landscape is inside this shell. Serah said they did, but when you actually look at it, it's so much more amazing. "There it is." I flow Serah's gesture out the window. Wow, that is a huge city. It's almost like the ones I saw when I was on Earth, but even bigger.

"Right, hang on everybody." I listen to Goofy's suggestion as the ship banks toward this huge city. The city gets even bigger. Whoa, there are a lot of people here. What the…

"Goofy look out!"

* * *

"Van, Roxas, look at that! It's enormous." The world of Pulse is continuing to grow underneath us. There's a lot of vegetation on it. I don't see a lot of cities or much of anything else down there.

"Yeah, it's big. Where are we going to start?" Van pulls up beside me.

"The white, moogle thing that was with Serah said that we should look at the Pa…pd…the P something." Roxas' voice comes from behind me.

"Right, it was some kind of old city."

"Get closer. We might be able to see it." We all follow Van's command and descend closer to the strange world. Wow, there this massive plain, and whoa! That was huge! It looked like a huge turtle elephant thing. I ended flying between its legs. It was like a hundred feet tall. And look at that, there's at least ten of them! Is everything here huge?

"Look over ther…agh!" Whoa, the world's tumbling around us! And it's getting closer really fast. Man this is gonna hurt!

* * *

"What was that?" Our ship was hit by something and we crashed, but everything looks okay, and I'm not hurt. I hope the others aren't

"That was some fall, kupo." Mog's huge head is tumbling around.

"Something shot us. It might have been something from the army." Tobi helps Serah out of the ship as she finishes her sentence.

"Why would they be shootin' at us?" Goofy stumbles out with Donald just behind. Everyone looks okay, well relatively, given the circumstances.

"I don't know. They might've had some problems with those chaos monsters that you were telling me about."

"The Pur…um…the Purple Festival may have put everyone on edge, kupo."

"That's right, the Purple Festival…where…um…well,"

"Okay, Serah, I know you're lying. What's actually going on?" I cross my arms and raise an eyebrow to her. She's looking at Mog again.

"Okay Sora, you're right. Mog was going to say that it has to do with the Purge. I've known it was going on, but I was trying to avoid getting you all involved. It started a few days ago now."

"What's the Purge?" Tobi steps up beside me.

"It is this initiative by the Sanctum to protect Cocoon from the evils of the world below. I was hoping we wouldn't run into it." Serah looks at the ground and then back to us.

"What exactly did we send our friends into? Evils, hellish wastelands? This doesn't sound like a nice place." Tobi folds his arms as Donald, Goofy and I look toward the city in front of us.

* * *

Ugh…man that hurt. Where am I? Agh…my head hurts. I don't even remember what actually happened. I remember falling toward the world and then it went black. Are the others still…I push up from the ground. I'm still in my armor, but that probably helped with the fall. I look around. Roxas is right next to me, but he's on the ground. I don't see Van. I remember seeing him fall, but he's not around. Where would he have gone? Oh! Roxas groaned, he might be waking up. I rush over to him.

"Roxas? Are you okay?"

"Whoa, that was…Ven?"

"Yeah, I'm here." I help him to stand up.

"What happened? That hurt. Where's Van?" Roxas pulls off his helmet and I do the same. I don't want to completely take off my armor, but fresh air feels nice. This place is huge. We're in the middle of this big open space with lots of those turtle looking things and grass and other animals.

"Not sure and I don't know. He wasn't around when I 'woke up.' We need to find him though." I look around to try and see if I can see him.

"This thing is huge. How are we ever going to find him?"

"We will. Don't worry. Come on!" I try to lighten the mood. Aqua and Terra always tell me I'm good at that!

* * *

"I think we came at the wrong time…" everyone joins me behind a row of crates. We've made it to the edge of the city, but I think we have a problem. There are whole groups of people in armor. They're moving around the city in weird formations.

"It's the army. Something must have happened here."

"Did the l'Cie…come through here, kupo?"

"I don't know what a l'Cie is, but we've got some trouble!" I follow Tobi's gesture toward…Rifters. Or at least I think they are. They look different. Doesn't matter.

"Come on Mog!"

"Kupo!" Where'd he go? Where'd she get that bow from? Whatever, got bigger problems! I run toward the monsters. There are three of them. Tobi and I corner one, while Donald and Goofy have another. Serah has the last one. I'm sure she can take care of her…wow, look at that! I've never seen magic like…whoa, okay, I need to pay more attention. These things can actually kill me. Okay, where'd it go?

"Sora watch out!" Yikes that was close! I have to remember that Tobi still hasn't mastered aiming magic. He got it! That just leaves…none…of…them…okay then.

"Thanks for the warning!" I turn around to my brother, put the soldiers behind me.

"Well, I figured after setting your butt on fire twice now, I thought I'd try to…well, not do that anymore." I match my brother's smile. "Where's Serah?"

"Right here. You don't have to worry about me."

"Cause she's got me, kupo!" Hey look Mog's back from where ever he went.

"Don't forgetta 'bout us." Oh good, Donald and Goofy are headed back.

"Don't worry! After all we've been through, I'd never forget you guys!"

* * *

I wonder what happened to Ven. That stupid thing made us crash, and now I've lost him. Aqua and Terra really won't forgive me now. Ugh…here I thought I could finally make things better between us. They said they forgave me and all this crap, but I know they didn't. I know I have to do something to make them know how sorry I really am. I can't let Ven get hurt. I have to find him. I guess I should look for Roxas too. Where'd they go?

* * *

A/N: So, did you like it? I hope so! Leave me lots of comments and reviews so I can know how to improve this story! I just want to say thanks to **XaccemFlare** for all the great ideas!


	13. Search and Rescue

**Double Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts nor Disney. This is also the last time I'm going to write this because I hope by now you've gotten that I don't own anything. Thanks!**

A/N: I wonder where Van is. At least he's okay though. Anyway, hopefully this story is starting to draw you in! This chapter has a bunch of plot devices in it and it is very important to setting up the rest of the story. I wanted to say sorry though that it's taken twelve chapters to get here. I originally planned on taking this story in a totally different direction, but it wasn't as good a story, so I hope you like where I'm taking this now. Please read and review! Thanks!

* * *

Chapter XIII: Search and Rescue

I can't believe we still haven't found anything. Roxas and I have been walking around this huge plain forever, but it just seems to keep getting bigger. We have to find Van some way or another.

"We're never going to find him. He could be so far away by now." I look over at Roxas who's beside me.

"Come on Roxas! Cheer up! We've just got to keep looking!" I give him a huge smile. Hey! Why is he rolling his eyes at me, oh well at least he eventually smiled back. Thing is though, I'm not really sure if we are going to find him. He could be walking the wrong way looking for us. Or something worse might've…you know what, best not to think about it. Whoa, gah…the whole place is shaking; it must be another one of those turtle things. Wagh! Ugh…great now I have to pick myself up off the ground.

"You alright there Ven?"

"Yes, Roxas and it's not nice to laugh at other people when they fall like that." I brush away some the dirt on me, but he keeps on laughing. Dang it, now I'm laughing too!

"Aww, come on Ven it was funny and you know it!" I scowl at him, but for some stupid reason I can't stop laughing.

"Fine, but we need to find Van."

"I can't think of anywhere he would've gone. I mean, we were all hit by…whatever that thing with wings was, so he must've landed nearby."

"Do you think he might have landed in that big canyon we saw?"

"The one back where we started?" I nod. "That's a lot of walking…"

"I don't think we'll find him over this way though."

"You're probably right…" Roxas sighs as he looks back all the way we came…

"Roxas…why don't we just use our gliders…"

"Why didn't we think of that earlier?!" I can't believe we didn't, but eh…we'll get over it. Besides, now we know!

* * *

"So Serah, how are we supposed to get to Eden from here?" Tobi looks up to the floating city, like I do.

"There's a train that…"

"You there!" Who just said that? Uh oh…why are they surrounding us? We didn't do anything wrong…did we? I look over to Tobi. He looks just as confused…crap. What are we supposed to do? Whoa! What is Serah doing?

"Come on Sora!"

"Wait up Tobi!" I grab my Keyblade and charge in behind them both with Donald and Goofy just behind.

* * *

Ugh, I should've killed that flying whatever when I had the chance. Then I wouldn't be stuck searching for Ven this whole time. Not really sure what we're supposed to be doing here anyway. I haven't seen any of those Chaos things that Yen Sid told us about. This is so stupid. I don't even know where I am on this planet. All that's around me are these walls of rock, sort of like those ones at the Keyblade Graveyard…where…not going to think about it. The only life I've found are these worthless little slugs that took two seconds for me to kill. Even Tobi could've gotten rid of them in ten. Pathetic. Where is he?

* * *

"Are you sure this was a good…agh…idea, Serah?" These soldiers keep coming from everywhere! I can't even really see Serah, I don't think she even heard me. Oh no not again!

What's going on? Why is everything so dark? What was that? It sounded like a…Tobi! Why isn't anything coming out of my mouth? Why can't I move? There was the bell again. Every time it goes off, there's this bright blue light that surrounds us. Whoa…what is that? It's this huge thing…agh! What did it just shoot at us? Now, I really can't move. These wires are holding my arms back. Ow! Ack…that really hurt. It just shot one at my stomach and now it really burns…gah…like really bad. Whoa…

Ugh…my head…and my stomach…ugh it hurts so bad. Where…are…

"Tobi? Is that…are you…"

"What was that?" I try to focus my eyes on Tobi, but I'm having a tough time. "Wait…where…is everyone?" Me and Tobi have managed to push ourselves off of the ground, but only to our knees. I'm okay with that though. My head's kind of spinning.

"Donald and Goofy…they're…gone…where…"

"I found them, kupo!" That was Mog! Where is he?

"Oh thank goodness, I was so worried. What happened to you two? Where are Donald and Goofy?" I jump…okay, bad idea…it's going to take a second for me to get my head straight again. I think Tobi was smarter to stand up slowly.

"What do you mean? They aren't with you? Where did you go?" Maybe I should've spaced my questions out a little more.

"No. You both vanished and then they were gone."

"Look at his hand, kupo." What's Mog talking about there's nothing on my…oh wait…they're talking about Tobi. That can't be very good. He has this small little mark on his right hand. It's glowing bright blue. That was where that thing hit him. Does that mean…I hope not. I start to pull my shirt up and I hold my breath. Oh no, whatever it is, I've got one too, right near my belly button…

"The mark of a l'Cie."

* * *

"Roxas! I see something down there in the canyon. It might be Van!" I sure hope it is. Roxas and me fly down into the canyon. That's definitely him! Who else has that dark hair? Crap…that's why he's not moving. There's this big thing that has him trapped near a wall. Even Van can't take that alone. "Roxas, he's right there!" I'm not going to wait for him to respond. I've got to help him. About fifteen feet from the ground I jump off my glider and roll onto the ground. As I stand up I grab my Keyblade. "Sometimes I wished you just stay with the group!" Despite the circumstances I manage a smile, which he actually matches.

"Lecture later. We've got bigger problems!" Wow, this thing looks even bigger from down here, if that's possible. Whatever. Focus. Be fast Ventus. Get in there, strike, get back. Remember you're going to be a master. You can do this. With Roxas and Van we've got this thing surrounded. It's going dow…what the? It…it's standing up, like a person!? How is it? Gah! It just ripped a saw from its back! "Run!" Despite how freaked out I am, I listen to Van's command.

"We're a little stuck!" Yikes! That thing really can swing that saw. At least we could all jump!

"What're we going to do?!" Just as I say that this fireball explodes on the back of this thing.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" The thing is turning around to look at this new voice. Whatever, I'll take it!

"Follow my lead!" Whoa, this woman…with pink hair…comes running around to our side of the monster. She starts slashing at the thing with surprising results. I don't know who these people are, but their taking out this thing with magic that I've never seen before and it looks like it's working. They have it down in less than a minute. Wow.

"Could've been worse." How many people are there? That makes three…actually now there are…six people…

Either our lives just got a whole lot easier or a whole lot more complicated.

* * *

A/N: So did you all like it? I want to thank **Seraphicfox2515 **and **Xaccemflare **for their ideas! They were very influential on this chapter!

T/N: Well, it might be good for your story, but now I'm a l'Cie?! Who does that help?

Sora's Note: Hey me too!

A/N: See that's what I get for letting you talk Tobi!

T/N: It's not my fault! You were the one that let him talk, not me.

S/N: Hey, I'm right here you know!

A/N: Alright, well I'm just going to take these two away. I hope you liked the story though!

S & T/N: Bye!


End file.
